With the start of the New Year, the 8th graders will be starting a new book in literature. Today, I handed out copies of Shakespeare's
The Merchant of Venice. This will be a fun read for everyone as it is a play that we will read through in parts as a class. Along with reading this, the 8th graders will be assigned some book projects to be done throughout the next month. They will be hearing more about this in the coming days.
The copy of this book we use in class has some unique features we will be using. First, it has a parallel translation between Shakespearean English and modern English. Since, for most of the 8th graders, this is the first time reading Shakespeare, we will be reading the modern English version in class and referring to the Shakespearean English as we go. Also, our copy has study and review questions in the back that will help throughout the reading of the play. It is definitely a copy meant to be read in a middle school classroom. Because of this, the 8th graders will need the exact copy we make available in the classroom (the cover is seen above). If your 8th grader takes one of the classroom copies, your TADS account will be billed the $7 for the book.
If you have any questions, let me know. This is always a fun unit to go through every year with the 8th graders!
